Prologue: The Secretary's Agony
People can't just do whatever they want and live that way. If they could, I'd spend my whole life playing eroge. I'd grind full clears and rerolls whenever a favorite character showed up. How nice it would be to be rich... But I was just an ordinary office drone A, toiling like an ant to make ends meet. That's why, behind my back, I was sweating bullets while desperately pretending to stay calm.
A sealed chamber surrounded by steel bulkheads. Under the glaring LED lights that stabbed at the eyes, the conference room was packed tight with people. Half in suits, half in practical gear—Nebula Group's field hunters.
"……."
"……."
"……."
The room held about thirty people, but a suffocating silence hung over it.
Then, one hunter with a face drained of color hesitantly spoke up.
"Excuse me, but could you repeat that...?"
Behind his words lurked the unspoken: 'I can't believe what you just said.' He was definitely a 2nd-rank hunter. A human weapon who could slice an office drone like me in half with one swing! I absolutely couldn't afford to piss him off.
I spoke as amiably and politely as possible. Short, easy-to-understand phrases. I could feel my face stiffening from the tension. I'm the type who wears stress on my face, and when emotions hit extreme levels, I overflow. Calmly falling apart. That was me.
I drew a triangle on the tactical map set up in the center of the room and opened my mouth. The map detailed the entire Gangwon Province.
"Let's turn everything west of the Hantan River—Yulmok, Baekdeok, and Yugok—into a sea of fire."
"……."
"……."
Oh no. The mood's freezing over even more. W-Wait, are they mad because it's too harsh a plan?
"...We'll need a more detailed explanation."
Thankfully, one of the suits broke the chill with a golden save. I recognized his face from when I'd fetched coffee for the audit team. Thank you, G.O.A.T... I'll bring you a caramel latte later.
I desperately scrambled for excuses. I had to emphasize quick how this plan would let the field teams suck on honey.
I pressed on, tension coiling tighter, my face hardening further.
"Exactly as I said. We'll launch an all-directional aerial assault within the boundaries of those three zones. Materials Division West Team Leader? I'm aware we have thirty-five aerial thermobaric bombs from military surplus in Warehouse 45. Correct?"
"Yes, sir!"
"That covers firepower. And since it's not flying monster season, Nebula's dedicated flying monster team is idle. Slip a telekinetic in with them, and we won't envy any bomber squadron."
I waved my hands for an easy visual, shaping a plane with my fingers and whooshing it over the map.
"President Seol Hwi's order is to capture humanoid monsters alive. But given their ability to perfectly mimic humans, we can't just smash them like regular monsters. That leaves only one option."
Aerial assault!
"Air strike. Even before gates opened, the US burned mountains to flush out guerrillas. Monsters hiding among humans? Inspect the humans to smoke 'em out—if they pass, they're still hunkered down like turtles in the impact zone. Time to rain hellfire from above."
I added a soft 'boom' sound effect with my mouth, inwardly patting myself on the back. Of course, my face remained icily composed from the nerves.
This way, our hunters could stand back, munch popcorn, watch monsters burn, then just haul in the corpses! Happiness for me, happiness for the field teams banking overtime pay for free! One stone, two birds—or rather, ditch the goat while catching the shrimp.
Then a trembling woman's voice cut in. One of the field hunters in the room, her eyes quivering under dark circles.
"What about the backlash from local civilians?"
Damn! She's definitely pissed! I need an even more devilishly brilliant plan. I racked my brain desperately and spouted bullshit.
"First, secretly release some 7th-rank monsters in the area. Tougher than wild dogs, right? Then spread rumors of monster sightings everywhere, whip up panic, lobby the press and government for evacuation orders—game over. If they still won't budge, toss 'em some compensation."
Nebula's an evil organization, but filthy rich. Compensation could buy them houses in safe zones like Pocheon, not frontier hellholes like Hwacheon or Cheorwon. Sorry to the locals who had to move on short notice, but good things are good, right? Self-consolation complete.
"Declaring an airstrike out of nowhere will spark huge backlash!"
Startled by the shout, I reflexively glared—making the yelling suit stiffen up. Oh crap... he really is mad.... High-end suit, definitely upper management. If I screw up here, it'll reach the president's ears, tank my eval, lead to a pay cut. Then who's gonna refill my wallet after grinding new characters? Argh!
I spun my brain into overdrive again.
"Then promote it as the president personally deploying at first."
The high-up guy's jaw dropped. Before weird misunderstandings could form, I added a disclaimer.
"Media play, of course. Better than announcing airstrikes outright—say she was set to deploy but switched to localized strikes to preserve regional value. Less backlash, right?"
Time to rack up more points. Stopping here might paint me as a bad employee who disrespects the president.
Show some corporate values for extra credit? The guy sighed in relief, but I rushed on before he could speak.
"...Still, showing consideration for the locals—"
"Do you know how many won our president burns per minute? Airstrikes would actually be cheaper."
From what I'd seen in the game, Nebula's leader's abilities guzzled funds like crazy per use. So I figured he was worried about compensation plus consumption costs....
"...Pardon?"
His face went ghost-white, like he'd seen a specter. Did I say something wrong?
"?"
"?"
"Weren't you concerned about excessive budget drain?"
"......No. That's all from me."
The guy slumped with a dark aura. My heart plummeted too.
Eh? Wrong answer? But I'd already mounted the tiger—no backing down. Wimps who flounder here get fed to the sharks and don't survive on the peninsula!
Screw it, I blurted whatever came to mind.
"Once we open fire-hell west of Hantan River, the local boss Taebaek Guild will flip. Smash 'em before they react. Mix mana-disruption rounds between thermobarics—concrete and rebar to dust, saving on flattening costs. Snag the monster-cleared land cheap for industrial zones later, bury factory waste there. Take in the overflowing national waste, and the government will back us tax-payers over stubborn old coots like Taebaek."
"……."
"Oh, and for compensation, differentiate slightly by age."
"...What fresh horror now."
"Pardon? What was that?"
"Nothing. Any special reason for tiered payouts?"
"Nothing major. Give elders more, youth get mad at elders. Pay youth first, elders rage about disrespect. Keeps 'em fighting each other instead of cursing Nebula, right?"
"……."
"?"
Meeting over, it was quitting time. Bracing against the sardine-can subway crush, my pocket buzzed. A message from the president.
"……."
What exactly? Me mewling like a kitten between a scary boss and killer hunters? I desperately wanted to ask what she liked. But no. It'd shatter my 'perfect secretary' image I'd built, and if her interest waned, my life was forfeit. Our president was the head of the world's top evil organization, after all. Snipping a peon like me? Easier than dessert.
Sob... how did my life come to this....
Tears streaming inwardly for my tragic fate, I tapped out a reply.
I will try harder.
"Heh."
A reply this icy even to Nebula's leader, who vied for 2nd or 3rd in global corporate rankings. Everyone she'd met fell into two camps: burning with filthy greed, or quaking in terror. But this cool detachment? A first from this man.
It only heightened Nebula's leader, Seol Hwi's, intrigue.
Her fiery red hair and even redder eyes—split pupils glinting reptilian—sparkled as she smiled.
"Now that's my secretary."
Only the most perfect secretary could stand at the world's top leader's side.
Seol Hwi happily pondered what task to give her secretary next.
Something utterly beyond the imagination of Seo Han-gyeol, who was sneaking a fish-shaped bun at the transfer station.